Man dies after brutal attack at Parklife

It's not the first case of violence to hit the Manchester festival – a man was also stabbed over the weekend

A man has died in hospital after being assaulted at the Parklife Weekender festival in Manchester. 26-year-old Robert Hart was reportedly knocked unconscious by a man during a row by the main stage.

Witnesses say that Hart was attempting to prevent his girlfriend being hit by an inflatable doll when the assailant struck Hart to the ground. Hart died in hospital four days later. Police have now issued an e-fit of the suspect, described as a mixed race male in his late 20s and around 6ft 1in tall.

While festival organisers told the Independent that the weekend's attack was "isolated" and that they "took pride in there being no incidents", it seems directly at odds with reality – another stabbing actually occurred over the weekend.

Daniel Welch, 19, is lucky to be alive after having been stabbed by a group of fifteen men with Liverpool accents. His brother was attacked by the same gang who smashed a litre bottle of vodka over his head. The pair were attacked after refusing to buy ecstasy off the group.

Their elder brother Jonathan told the Manchester Evening News: "One of them then said 'where are you from', we said 'Manchester' and then they hit Craig over the head. Then they unzipped their waterproof, North Face jackets and someone shouted 'knife', They had flick knives, like you can buy abroad.”

Parklife organisers have yet to respond to this second attack, although they did tell us that they were "devastated" by Hart's death.

"Our sincerest and heartfelt condolences go out to Robert's family and friends at this difficult time," a festival representative said. "We will continue to assist Greater Manchester Police with its investigation and urge anyone that may have witnessed the incident to contact the police through any official channel available to them."

Anyone with information should contact the incident room directly on 0161 85 69283 or email the incident room on mit.syndicate8@gmp.police.uk with any relevant footage. Alternatively you can call police on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.